Poor Ryan

Every year we have some kind of drama. This year it happened to Ryan.

Wednesday night he was jumping on the trampoline with Paul and Brayden while I was watering the garden. There was no crazy jumping, just having fun. I also want to mention that we have had our trampoline for 5 1/2 years and have not had any injuries, until now. All of a sudden Paul yells to me that Ryan has broken his arm and that we need to go to the E.R. Paul carries Ryan to the van and I drive us to the hospital, it was 8:30 in the evening. His arm was obviously broken in several spots (it looked as if he had two wrists) and I knew that he would need surgery. Ryan had put his arm out to catch himself and with the trampoline pushing up his arm broke in three spots.

We got to the hospital and they took x-rays and admitted him. I spent the night with him. He was in so much pain he just moaned pretty much all night long. As the nurse was hooking up the I.V. he asked, "How many calories are in that?". I had no idea he was watching his weight, especially since he just downed a huge ice cream cone before his accident. Anyway the next morning they came and got him at 6:15 to take him to pre-op. He then informed the Dr. that he would need a waterproof cast since he was planning on swimming next week. The Dr. told him that he would not be able to swim for about a month since they were going to put a pin in his arm. Ryan was really freaked out about a pin poking his arm. Anyway he was a trooper and made it out of surgery at about 8:30. He got to go home around 12:00. We all took naps and moved on with our crazy schedules. Alyssa and Tyler went on a youth temple trip and Brayden had piano lessons. Phew, we made all of our obligations.

8th Grade Graduation

Alyssa graduated from the 8th grade and will be in high school next year. She made the honor roll and the middle school band received several superior ratings and awards. Alyssa has also developed her musical talents and is quite good on the trombone. She will be a great high school student and I'm excited to see what she will accomplish.



Alyssa and her best friend, Taylor.


Getting ready to perform with the Jazz Band.

School in the Woods

Brayden had a great 4th Grade experience this last year. He was able to attend a school that was located in the forest and they had most of their class time everyday outside. He learned about many different types of trees, birds, insects, clouds, stars, gardening, and many other great outdoor things. During recess they would build wiki-ups (shelters made out of branches from the ponderosa pine trees). His spring field project was abiotic pond study. He was able to take samples from the pond at the school and test the water. He loves nature and even asked for field guides, bird houses, and binoculars for his birthday.

Ryan's Kindergarten Music Program

Ryan has loved this year of kindergarten and Mrs. Armstrong has been a wonderful teacher for him. They finished out the year with a fun music program.

Saturday Afternoon Fun

Ryan loves to create. One day he came home from school with a suit of armor made out of paper, but he was worried that he couldn't get the helmet just right. So he and Paul spent some time on a Saturday working on this.

Spring Break

This spring break we did some organizing and cleaning. We cleaned out a storage room in the basement and Paul built these amazing shelves for the laundry room so we could have a place for our food storage and other items. I have an old washer and dryer, but they keep working great so I can't complain.



Then we bought this shelving unit so that I could have all of my preschool supplies in the preschool and be organized.


Then we moved Alyssa down to the basement and made the storage room into her new bedroom. Now she doesn't have to share a bathroom with her three brothers, only three classes of preschoolers (it's a trade off).




Alyssa's old room is now Ryan's room. He chose a Star Wars Theme. He loves his new room and he loves getting his picture taken so he wanted to be in some of the photos of his new room.





Now all the kids will have their own room and I love feeling like everything is clean and organized, if only for a little while.

Alyssa turns fourteen!!

Alyssa shares a birthday with my dad, March 5th. My parents always try to come down to the Springs so that we can all celebrate together.


I love this picture of my sweet girl. She has a beautiful smile and laugh.

Alyssa is now fourteen years old! I am so happy and honored to be her mother. She is such a beautiful girl, inside and out. She loves the Lord and has a strong testimony. She has also worked hard and just finished reading The Book of Mormon and finished all the requirements for her YW personal progress medallion. She also got her patriarchal blessing and it is amazing to me to be able to see her through the Lord's eyes and hear some of the amazing adventures that are going to be part of her future. She is a wonderful person and she will have a great life because of the choices she is making now. She is an example to me of faith, love, and righteousness.

I love my "Dida" (that's what she used to call herself before she could say her name). I lovingly call her that sometimes, she doesn't really like it (but hey a mom's gotta have something, right?).